We recently toured Tempe Town Lake on an electric boat! We were exploring the downtown Tempe area and part of our tour included boat rentals on Tempe Town Lake!
Types of boats for rent
You can rent electric boats (8-10 passengers), kayaks (1 or 2 person), pedal boats, and SUP boards. They also rent out cruiser bicycles and tandem bicycles for $15-20 per hour. If you’re exploring Tempe, a bicycle’s a great way to start as it is a very flat town.
We arrived at Tempe Beach Park around 1 pm on a weekday, and were on our boat within just a few minutes.
There’s only one company renting boats on Tempe Town Lake, and it is called Boats4Rent and is located on the south side of the lake in Tempe. You can also bring your own boat, and launch it from the ramps on the north side of the lake.
We took our two kids, ages 2 and 5, and they had a fantastic time, and loved steering the boat. There were lots of birds and ducks to check out on the lake. With a 5 year old driving, we went fast and in a zigzag pattern across the lake!
We toured the lake on an electric surrey, which is a 18’ cruiser with seating for 8 adults. It costs $75 for the first hour, or $115 for two-hours. One hour was more than enough time to explore the lake, and unless you’re planning a big party or dinner on the lake, would be quite suitable.
The best part about the electric surrey, besides the quiet operation, is the covered canopy. It’s really nice to be out of the sun.
For larger crowds, you can rent an electric pontoon boat which has seating for 10 adults. It also has a large bimini canopy to keep you out of the sun. The cost per hour is $80 or $130 for two-hours.
We highly recommend it as it’s a fun activity, and fun for the whole family.
We were provided with lifejackets for our children which fit them great. They seem to be set up with lots of options for children’s lifejackets.
About the lake
Tempe Town Lake is a small lake situated on the north side of Tempe, and is connected to the Salt River. The lake was formed by placing two inflatable rubber dams on the river at each end of the lake.
During peak rain events, the dams can be deflated to let extra water escape. There have been a few incidents related to these dams, including one time when the lower dam burst and the entire lake drained in a matter of hours. In fact, both dams were recently replaced with permanent dam structures.
There are excellent walking paths along the lake including boating, sailing, and paddling.
What you can see on the lake
Some of the interesting views include several bridges that you can go under, and numerous excellent views of downtown Tempe. From our boat, we could see all of the new buildings being constructed for State Farm Insurance (they are bringing 5,000+ employees to their new regional headquarters).
There are also views of the mountains around Tempe, including Camelback Mountain.
We highly recommend taking a boat tour of Tempe Town Lake!
Getting there
Boat Rentals of America – Tempe Beach Park
72 W. Rio Salado Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85282
Phone: (480) 303-9803
Please note: While we’ve been to Tempe Town Lake more than 50 times, on this recent occasion we were given a free ride compliments of Tempe Tourism.
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